


it’s safe for you to sleep

by syriala



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Misunderstandings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-10-02 07:43:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,068
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17260292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/syriala/pseuds/syriala
Summary: It could be a one-time thing, which was what Peter kept telling himself, but then it happened again and again. Every time Peter attended a pack meeting, Derek immediately rested his head on the nearest flat surface and drifted off. One memorable time he fell asleep leaning against the wall.If things continued like this, Peter would never get a chance to repair his relationship with Derek.





	it’s safe for you to sleep

Ever since the resurrection Peter had gotten his priorities straight again. Kate was dead, and he was considerably saner this time around, so really, the only thing he now wanted was to repair his relationship with Derek.

But he needed to be clever about it, because there was so much bad blood between them that it would be difficult to get back to like they had been before. But it was the only thing Peter wanted, and he would play the long game for that if he had to. Derek was more than worth it, after all.

Peter wasn’t sure Derek would accept him into his home, would willingly spend time with him yet, so he figured he had to start smaller. Coming to pack meetings seemed like a good start for that. It wasn’t just Peter in his loft then and the other pack members could function as a buffer between him and Derek, just until Peter knew exactly where he stood with Derek.

But even though his plan was good, Derek already spoiled it the first time Peter showed up to a pack meeting. Peter had barely entered the loft before Derek rested his head on the kitchen table and promptly drifted off to sleep.

Peter was outraged, because how was he supposed to figure out if there was anything between them worth salvaging when Derek didn’t give him a chance to even talk to him.

It could be a one-time thing, which was what Peter kept telling himself, but then it happened again and again. Every time Peter attended a pack meeting, Derek immediately rested his head on the nearest flat surface and drifted off. One memorable time he fell asleep leaning against the wall.

Peter never got the chance to speak with Derek, and after a month of simply accepting it, he started to get more and more angry when it kept happening.

If it was a ploy to avoid any confrontation with Peter, it was damn effective, especially since Peter was so very unwilling to wake Derek up.

He seemed softer and younger in his sleep, and Peter wondered if this was how Derek would look when he was awake and happy too, before he forcefully directed his thoughts into another direction. The dark circles under Derek’s eyes made it clear that he needed all the sleep he could get, and Peter didn’t want to cause them to reappear.

In the end, Peter asked Stiles.

The fact that Derek was sleeping at all, wasn’t worrying that much, but the fact that he just fell asleep where he stood, that was. And if he was sick, or cursed, Peter needed to know. But for that he first had to ask if this had been the norm even since before, he started attending pack meetings. He needed to know just for how long it had been going on.

“What’s wrong with Derek?” he asked Stiles, cornering the human in the kitchen.

Stiles’ eyes flicked in worry over to the pack, but he straightened his shoulders and didn’t back down. He would have made such a magnificent wolf.

“Nothing’s wrong with Derek?” Stiles gave back, but he looked over at Derek as he said it, and frowned when he saw him asleep, curled up in a chair.

His limbs were almost too long for it, spilling over, but he had somehow found a balance, with his head propped up on his hand. It shouldn’t hold, he shouldn’t be able to sleep like this and yet Peter could hear his soft, even breathing, indicating that he was truly and deeply asleep.

“Okay, I see what you mean,” Stiles allowed after a moment of silence. “But honestly, dude, no idea. I have never even seen him relax before. He never slept around us. Maybe ask the puppies? They kinda lived with him for a hot minute there. They should know.”

“Don’t call me dude,” Peter muttered, almost on reflex, not dragging his eyes away from Derek, worry still churning in his gut. “You’ve never seen him sleep?” Peter asked to clarify.

“Nope. I’ve seen him unconscious and knocked out, but never willingly so.”

That was more than concerning. If Derek had never slept in front of the pack before it made his recent behavior even more worrying.

“What are you thinking?” Stiles asked him, standing shoulder to shoulder with Peter now, and watching Derek with assessing eyes.

“I’m thinking that something is not right,” Peter gave back, worry tight and heavy in his gut. Peter wondered if he would have get used to that feeling.

“Alright, I know how you would come to that conclusion. But, have you considered just asking him about it?” Stiles asked, and Peter narrowed his eyes at him.

“Because Derek has such a way with words,” Peter said sarcastically in an attempt to hide his fear that Derek was doing this to _avoid_ speaking to him, and Stiles shrugged.

“It’s worth a try, especially from you,” he muttered, right before he walked away without giving Peter time to inquire about that any further.

For now, Peter continued to watch Derek with worried eyes, wondering just what curses he knew that could cause this kind of effect, but he came up empty. This wasn’t something Peter had encountered before, and so he needed another source of information.

“Isaac,” Peter drawled as the beta walked past him, and Peter delighted in the way Isaac cringed away from him.

“Yes?” Isaac asked, voice wary and guarded and Peter had to compliment his good instincts.

“Did you ever see Derek sleep?” Peter wanted to know.

“All the time,” Isaac immediately gave back, gaze finding the still asleep Derek.

“Not now,” Peter said, trying hard to keep the sigh out of his voice. “Before, when you were living with him.”

“Oh,” Isaac said and then took some time to think about the answer. Peter was grateful he took this seriously, but he just wanted to shake him, when the seconds dragged on. “Not really,” Isaac eventually said. “He was still awake when I went to bed, and he was already up when I came down.”

“So you’ve never seen him sleep? Not once?”

“I don’t think so. He joined me on the couch sometimes when I read, but he didn’t sleep then.”

Peter hummed lowly under his breath at that and Isaac dragged his eyes away from the still sleeping Derek.

“Why? You think something is wrong?” Isaac asked him and Peter thought that maybe he didn’t give the boy enough credit.

“Maybe,” Peter said, unwilling to outright state that he was more than worried about Derek, but Isaac seemed to realize it anyway.

“If you need help, let me know,” Isaac said, and Peter dragged his hand over the boy’s arm, in thanks and as a way of acknowledging him as pack.

He wouldn’t ask for help, but the offer was genuine, and Peter could appreciate that.

He still didn’t know what was wrong with Derek, and since neither Stiles nor Derek’s closest beta seemed to know anything, it maybe was time to ask Derek directly.

It was more difficult than Peter had anticipated, mostly because Derek never seemed to be awake when Peter was around.

Derek continued to fall asleep in the most ridiculous positions, everywhere, all the time, and Peter couldn’t quite bring himself to wake Derek up. If what Stiles and Isaac had said were true, Derek didn’t sleep all that much to begin with, and it seemed cruel to deprive him of it now, when it finally looked like he could sleep. But Peter still worried, and when another week didn’t bring any change, when Derek still fell asleep where he stood, Peter resolved to finally ask Derek. Even if it meant waking him up.

Peter dropped by at the loft unannounced, without the pack for once, in case it was somehow related to them, and Derek was indeed awake and aware.

When he walked over to the couch after he opened the door for Peter, Peter rushed to stop him.

“What?” Derek grumbled, sleep clearly tugging at him already, if the way his eyes grew heavy and the way he swayed on his feet was any indication.

“What is wrong with you?” Peter asked, because he thought that beating around the bush wouldn’t do either of them any good.

“Nothing is wrong with me,” Derek gave back with a frown, and Peter had to admit that he did look healthier.

He wasn’t as pale as before, had obviously gained some weight too, instead of just bulking up with muscles, and the black rings under his eyes were nearly gone as well. If it was a curse, it was only doing good things for Derek.

Still, Peter needed to know what was going on.

“You’re always asleep,” Peter said and watched in fascination as Derek blushed slightly. “Why are you always asleep during pack meetings?”

“I’m not always sleeping,” Derek defended himself.

“No, you’re just always sleeping when—,” Peter stopped here, the words _when I want to talk to you_ dying in his throat, because maybe Derek did it on purpose.

Maybe Derek had started by pretending to be asleep whenever Peter came around just so that he didn’t have to talk to him, didn’t have to acknowledge his presence, and then it just escalated from there.

“You’re hurt,” Derek said suddenly with a frown, taking a small step forward. “Why are you hurt?”

Peter always shamelessly took advantage of his enhanced werewolf senses, but he forgot just how annoying it could be to have them turned against him.

“You could have just told me to stay away,” Peter snapped at Derek, who looked surprised and confused. “If you told me you didn’t want me at the pack meetings, I would have stayed away,” Peter went on, even though he wasn’t sure it was true.

“Because you always do what people tell you,” Derek scoffed, but there was still some lingering confusion on his face.

“I do when it’s you,” Peter lowly gave back.

It was as far as he was willing to go to admit that Derek was the most important person in his life, especially when clearly the sentiment wasn’t returned.

“I sleep because you are there,” Derek admitted with a sigh when it became clear that Peter wasn’t going to say anything else.

“Yeah, we already established that,” Peter courtly said, as he turned around, ready to just walk out again.

If he wasn’t wanted here, then he wouldn’t impose his presence on Derek any longer. Every other time, Peter would be delighted to make someone else uncomfortable, but not Derek. Never him. He was too important to Peter to play his games with him.

“I don’t think we really did, though,” Derek called after him, effectively calling him to a stop.

Peter turned around, crossing his arms in front of his chest, impatiently waiting for Derek to go on, and finally explain this situation.

Derek awkwardly scratched his neck, the other arm wrapped tightly around his middle, and he avoided all eye-contact, staring down at Peter’s shoes instead of looking him in the eyes.

“Then maybe do it now?” Peter prodded when Derek stayed silent for too long, and he hated himself just a little bit for how soft his voice sounded.

He was always soft when it came to Derek. It was a problem.

“I never feel—,” Derek started, and broke off with an annoyed huff before he finished the sentence. “I never feel safe enough to sleep. There was always the next threat, the next worry, and with the Argents still out there—it just never felt safe to sleep before.”

“But you have your pack now, pup. It’s safe for you to sleep,” Peter gently said.

Derek threw him a glance that held so much disdain, like Derek couldn’t believe Peter was that stupid, and Peter wondered if this was how people usually felt like when they talked to him.

“I can finally sleep, because you are back,” Derek explained, though he didn’t seem to have much patience for Peter right now. “I feel safe, because I know you have my back, that you would never let anything happen to me.”

Peter stared at Derek, surprised at that admission, because it was the last thing he had been expecting.

“So you only sleep during pack meetings when I’m there as well,” Peter said, and Derek’s face did a funny thing, like even admitting that was too much of an embarrassment.

“Why did you never ask me to stay?” Peter wanted to know, because pack meetings barely lasted longer than two hours and if it was the only time Derek ever got any decent sleep, that wasn’t enough.

“Right,” Derek said with a huff. “Because the way you always practically ran out of the loft really made be believe you’d want to stay.”

“I always want to stay with you,” Peter admitted, because he felt like it was safe to say that now.

If Derek only slept when he was around, he clearly trusted him with his life, and maybe even with his heart. Peter could hope.

“But you never did,” Derek lowly said, and Peter sighed.

“I thought you were feigning to sleep to avoid me. I didn’t know better.”

“It’s not often that you admit you were wrong,” Derek teased him and took a step towards Peter.

“I only do it with people I trust,” Peter gave back and stepped forward as well.

It brought them chest to chest and Peter could almost smell the contended sleepiness coming off Derek.

“Did you even get a full night’s sleep since you arrived here?” Peter asked and leaned in to drag his nose up Derek’s cheek, inhaling his scent, and leaving his own behind.

“No. Wanna help me with that?” Derek cheekily asked, and Peter chuckled.

“Always,” he gave back and then took another step forward, forcing Derek to walk backwards, until they reached the stairs, where Derek finally turned around.

Peter followed him, would always follow him if Derek wished it, and soon enough they were staying in Derek’s bedroom.

“It doesn’t smell like you,” Peter said, slightly thrown off by just how new everything still smelled, and Derek blushed as he shrugged.

“I never actually slept in here,” he told Peter. “I mostly slept where I stood when you were around and when you left, I sometimes slept on the couch for a few hours.”

Peter wanted to ask why the couch was okay, but not his bed, but then he realized it.

“You slept on the couch when I sat on it before.” When it still smelled like Peter.

“Yeah,” Derek sheepishly admitted, and Peter couldn’t help but pull him closer by his hand until he could press a kiss to his temple.

“Is this okay?” he asked afterwards, and Derek rolled his eyes.

“Of course not,” Derek said, and his voice was dripping with sarcasm. Peter wondered if Stiles had rubbed off on him. “It’s not like I just admitted that I only slept on something when it smelled like you.”

“I could just roll around in your bed for a few minutes,” Peter teased him, and Derek rolled his eyes. That, he definitely had from Peter.

“God, shut up. I have no idea why I even love you,” Derek muttered as he walked over to the bed, pulling his shirt over his head.

Peter’s stomach lurched, and his heart stumbled over a few beats at that admission. He had hoped that Derek still felt the same for him, that he still loved him, but with everything Peter had done, that possibility had been small, and Peter hadn’t dared to entertain the thought of it, really.

“Did you really doubt that?” Derek asked, clearly having heard the unregular beat, and Peter shrugged, uncomfortable with Derek’s searching gaze.

“After everything I did?” he asked, unwilling to mention Laura, but it hung in the air anyway. “Of course I did.”

“Do you love me?” Derek asked, and Peter frowned.

“Of course I do. I always have.”

“Even after everything I did?” Derek asked, giving Peter’s question right back to him and Peter shook his head.

“You did nothing wrong.”

“I gave Kate everything. I left you behind. I did plenty wrong,” Derek admitted, bunching his shirt in his hands.

“And I would never hold it against you,” Peter whispered as he rescued the shirt from Derek’s hands before it could get torn.

“And I would never hold anything against you,” Derek said, holding Peter’s gaze and Peter smiled at him.

“Point taken, pup,” he said and when Derek let out a small whine at that old nickname, he just had to lean in and kiss him.

Derek eagerly pressed up against him, but Peter kept it gentle and soft. Derek hadn’t slept in way too long and while Peter was eager to fall into bed with Derek for more fun things than sleep, he needed to make sure that Derek was absolutely healthy first.

“We’re going to sleep, pup,” Peter whispered against Derek’s lips and Derek made an impatient sound.

“We can sleep afterwards,” he said and dragged his thigh over Peter’s hardening cock.

“We can also have sex after you slept and we’re well rested,” Peter said, and pulled away from Derek.

“You and your damn logic,” Derek muttered but he turned around as well, exchanging his jeans for much more appropriate sweatpants.

“You have something for me to sleep in too?” Peter asked, as Derek crawled under the sheets.

“I think I prefer you naked,” Derek said after an assessing gaze. “Gives me easier access when I wake up.”

Peter laughed out loud at that, and unselfconsciously undressed. He could feel Derek’s gaze on him, and he could still smell Derek’s arousal, but beneath that was the much sweeter and more satisfying scent of complete and utter contentedness.

As soon as Peter slid under the covers as well, Derek pulled him close and practically wrapped himself around Peter. Peter huffed amusedly at that, but he also slung his arms around Derek, keeping him just where he was.

It wasn’t long before Derek drifted off, satisfyingly drunk on Peter’s scent and the feeling of him under him, and Peter followed him soon after.

In the morning, Derek took complete advantage of Peter’s undressed state.


End file.
